I can only speak for the city where I grew up and lived just outside of for 33 years.....it has turned into a cesspool.
As someone who is not particularly political, I would absolutely hate to live in one of these criminal safe havens that are so openly adored by majority of the greater community here.
My wife and I left the USA altogether, right before the shit hit the fan in March, with plans to come back in the fall. Now it's looking like we are far better off waiting out the madness through the election and end of year.
ETA: I did NOT read the linked article in the OP. But this topic has come up in some shape or form almost daily here and on other forums I frequent.
I'm so curious about this.
What makes a city a "cesspool" and a "criminal safe haven"?
Are Canadian cities so drastically different from American cities?
I've been to the US a few times in the past few years, but no major cities other than Miami, and that was pre-Trump. So when people talk about this kind of thing, it's hard to even fathom what on earth that looks like.
I happen to live in one of the highest crime rate neighbourhoods in Canada, and for reference, I feel totally comfortable saying a friendly hello to the drug addicts and sex workers who live on these streets and my DH sometimes plays basketball with the homeless guys who live by the river.
I have zero frame of reference for what a "cesspool" city is like, I basically live on Sesame Street.
My brother-in-law recently moved from a pretty bad neighborhood in Albuquerque. Just looking at the crime stats map in the last month within 2-3 blocks of his old house there were 5 shots fired, 3 aggravated assaults, one armed robbery, and an auto theft. Even in my relatively nice and safe neighborhood there was a shots fired on the main street several blocks away and one aggravated assault. Mostly it's domestic disputes - but I filtered those out as they just fill up the map otherwise.
The "stats" where I live are pretty bad too, there's a ton of crime here, it's just mostly gang on gang stuff, drug crime, etc. There's a lot of theft, and some rare shootings, but none of it directly affects my day to day life here. It's a very warm and friendly and very diverse community.
A guy's throat was slit in broad daylight on the main street just a few blocks from my house, but again, that's gang on gang stuff. I have no fear for my own safety and go to the store it happened in front of regularly.
Perhaps the big difference is that we don't have a lot of guns here? Although for Canada, my area has a lot of guns and shots fired in the streets does happen, and a guy was shot recently on the main street across from where the other guy had his throat slit. So it's not like there are no guns here, but again, they're basically exclusively used on gang on gang crime.
I honestly don't understand how I can live in a crime dense area and feel totally safe as a woman walking around alone (during the day), while so many Americans here describe urban areas where they don't even feel safe as men biking to work.
I'm really trying to understand this.
I was in Allentown Pennsylvania, which is about as quaint as quaint as can be, and my very white, very conservative senior citizen friend who was hosting me insisted I not walk at all towards a certain direction from my hotel. As long as I stayed above the street my hotel was on, I was fine, but to stray just blocks downhill I would be in real danger.
I was fascinated, I so wanted to understand how much was real danger and how much was perception of this dude who winters in a gated community in Florida.
I know that if someone were visiting my city, most of my conservative, wealthy, suburban colleagues would heavily caution against wandering into my neighbourhood, and cite the sex workers and addicts wandering the streets as evidence of danger, even though none of them pose any risk.
If it is that dangerous, then why? What makes it so different from my crime ridden neighbourhood where I know the street dwelling drug addicts fairly well because I have frequently brought them bags of clothes, towels, etc.
I'm just trying to understand because I find it really strange.